Just Announced: NewTek TriCaster TC1

Just Announced!

NewTek TriCaster TC1

Well, lets get it over with. Yes. NewTek Tricaster TC1 is 4K. And not just 4K. 4K @ 60p. Finally! Clearly they haven’t been idle though, bringing to market an absolute powerhouse of a system. NewTek have been saying for some time, they will not just dump 4K into their existing products so that they can say it’s there. The plan was always to release something that would do 4K properly and deliver on everything that TriCaster has become known for – A complete production system that will deliver the HD workflows you need now and seamlessly migrate to 4K as the demand grows.

Newtek Tricaster TC1 2RU Server Rear Connectors

TC1 is a 16 external input switcher. As with recent iterations of the TriCaster line with Advanced Edition, all 16 can be IP (NDI) sources. But now, all 16 can be any resolution up to 4K/UHD at 60p with up-down scaling on every input. 4 of the inputs can also come in via the 4 x 3G-SDI BNC’s on the back, supporting up to 1080p60. Need more physical BNC inputs? Just stack a few NC1 Studio Input Modules with it and up to 16 3G-SDI or quad-link 4K/UHD sources can be converted to NDI and switched directly in TC1. There are also 4 x fully independent 3G-SDI BNC / NDI output channels that can alternatively be configured as a single 4K/UHD output channel.

All of the media players, effects and composition tools are still there, and obviously also able to deliver now in 4K/UHD: 2 x DDR’s, 2 x graphics players, sound player, 10 x Animation Buffers and 30 x clip players are all where you left them. You have your 4 x M/E’s, reenter-able and each with 4 x sources and keyers. The LiveMatte™ chroma and luma keyers are still EVERYWHERE. Automation, DataLink, Macros, social media sharing, the animated composition engine and their Virtual LiveSet technology are still included as standard.

Impressively, you get 6 channels of 4K/UHD recording via NewTek IsoCorder™, with 4 x QuickTime channels for archival and 2 x H.264 channels from the stream engine. Speaking of which: 2 fully independent, up to 4K/UHD streams can be encoded and delivered simultaneously to as many destinations as you like including Facebook, YouTube, Azure and all the rest.

A very nice inclusion with the TC1 that is surprising is two channels of Skype TX as seen in the TalkShow products. Skype for broadcast opens up your production to receive contributions from millions of people around the world without needing to deploy specialised hardware or software. Anyone with Skype on their phone, laptop or desktop PC are instantly able to stream live, low latency and high quality, directly into your production. With two Skype TX channels, and TC1’s flexible audio and talk back capability, you can also easily queue up callers and switch seamlessly between them live.

Paired to the TC1 are two new control surfaces: The network attached TC1LP 2 stripe panel and the USB connected TC1SP 1.5 stripe panel. Plenty of solid buttons that have a rewarding action; smooth, precise T-bars; ergonomic, space saving design with all the lights and colours you could want!

P.S: There is also a 3RU version of the Newtek Tricaster TC1 mentioned on the site. It appears to add redundant power supplies, which is a nice touch for that added reliability in mission critical environments.

P.S.S: The TC1 obviously builds on the NDI driven workflows Newtek is now focused on. There are a lot of reasons for you to get your head around NewTek’s NDI technology. The flexibility and functionality it adds to any production really is impressive. Their is a rapidly growing ecosystem of Newtek-developed and 3rd party software and hardware tools that allow you to bring in content from virtually anything, anywhere. And now, at any resolution up to 4K/UHD. This IP-centric design also gives rise to interesting opportunities for remote and distributed production, linking sites and systems anywhere in the world. More will follow from Broadcast Bruce on NDI and IP production in general, so keep an eye out!

Last thing. Below is the launch video from Newtek. Don Balance and Dave Page discuss the technical capabilities of the NewTek TriCaster TC1. Also, Will Waters asks Dr Andrew Cross to provide his thoughts on the industry today, the design principles and positioning of TC1, as well as interesting insight into the Newtek vision for IP video in Live Production and Broadcast.

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2017/08/20 | 22:58:50 | 60.241.14.155

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